I’ve never been much of a hat guy. Sure, we all have a friend who is a “hat guy” and is rarely caught without a hat on his head, but as I’ve gotten older, hats have more appeal.

And when I say hats, I don’t mean baseball caps or other hats adorned with the emblem of their favorite sports team. Those have their time and place, but you can’t wear those all the time. We’re men now fellas and it’s important to have a hat that can top off an astute, smooth look for those times when casual won’t cut it.

The hat scientists at David and Young (D&Y) have you covered, and they’ve just released their latest collection of men’s caps, fedoras and panamas in their Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

For purposes of this review, I was sent the D&Y tweed Duckbill in grey, tan and burnt orange colors. I pulled each one out of the box and was impressed immediately by the look. The grey one was calling my name, and at first, I was concerned about the one-size-fits-all Elastafit because it was a little snug. But that is the style of these hats, the way they are made. After a couple cocktails, the hat didn’t feel tight at all; in fact, it felt perfect.

So what do you do when you get a new hat from D&Y? You hit some bars and rock the shit out of that sucker, that’s what. As I strolled through the night, I checked my reflection whenever I passed the occasional reflective surface, and surprisingly, I looked great and was very impressed, especially for a guy who never wears a hat.

The other thing I noticed is that ladies dig a guy who isn’t dressed like every other shmoe (i.e. every other dude wearing a sports related cap). I was hanging out at a lounge enjoying a cold cup of Hennessy and actually got approached by two separate ladies, and the first thing that both of them said was, “I love that hat on you.”

If you want to try out a new look, or pretend you are someone else for a night, snag a hat from D&Y. But you’re not stuck with the Duckbill look alone. Check out the Straw Fedora, the Denim Cadet Hat, or even the Houndstooth Cabbie.